According to a recent report in the Taiwan-based Apple Daily, Apple is planning to release its often-rumored tablet device as early as September. The report, which corroborates earlier reports of a 10-inch screen and built-in 3G Internet connectivity, also notes that tablet’s multi-touch screen will be supplied by Wintek, the same company that supplies Apple with the panels it uses for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

It’s quite interesting that we’ve gone months and months with no real rumors about an Apple tablet, and now we’re bombarded with more and more information on what seems to be a daily basis. This could perhaps be an indication that production is indeed ramping up.

But while we’re all for a September release for an Apple tablet, we’re gonna have to call BS on this one. If Apple is indeed working on a tablet, you can bet that Apple will want to introduce it with all the bells and whistles and hype that we’ve come to expect from major Apple product announcements. A September release gives Apple nearly no time to give the product the introduction and marketing push Apple typically reserves for products of this nature. Also, Apple is already rumored to be planning a special media event in August where it’s expected to announce a number of significant upgrades across its entire iPod line, with the iPod Touch getting the same 3.2 megapixel camera currently found in the iPhone 3GS, and the iPod Nano receiving an integrated point and shoot camera. And lastly, AppleInsider has reported, citing sources it deems trustworthy, that Apple will release a tablet device in early 2010, a timeline which we think makes a whole lot more sense from both a business and marketing perspective.

As the tablet rumors continue to add up, we’re getting close to a point where the question of an Apple tablet changes from “if” to “when”. Hell, we’re probably already there.

3 Comments For This Post

Your call of BS makes no sense. You state no reason why there is no time to do a marketing push now. January makes no sense to release such a product. It makes more sense to release it in September for a XMAS sales push.